Why do some women trash women's specific skis as being too soft?

Why do some women trash women's specific skis as being too soft? The Editors Santa Fe, New Mexico

When women-specific skis first came out, they suffered from the shrink and pink" phenomenon, i.e. take a mens product, make it smaller, put pretty flowers on it, and call it a girls product. That philosophy hurt the women-specific ski industry more than it helped it.

At K2, the mostly male design team wised up and implemented a womens team consisting of pro and elite female skiers responsible for conceptualizing and testing skis from start to finish. The end result is a lineup of womens skis that are generally softer than mens, but not by the formerly standard 15 percent ratio, which many women skiers found way too soft. K2 also added a womens specific monic (a solid zinc mass embedded in the secondary core so it focuses mass dampening at a target=ed location), core layup, profile design, and shape..

See for yourself whether K2 has dialed in the magic womens- specific formula, with their One Luv ($1,000 with Marker M1 11.0 Ti bindings), an all-mountain ski with a 74 mm waist, that is nimble and forgiving enough to ski bumps and trees and everything in between.

Having switched over to telemarking about six years ago, I prefer K2s Schi Devil ($525). With its deep sidecut and two sheets of metal that provide super edge on hardpack, the Schi Devil can cut through crude and float in snow. Plus, the fiery graphics are a lot more inspiring than anything pink or floral.

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